| Tears, vomit, emotion infuse Pistorius trial Posted:  Verdict in marathon five-month inquiry expected this week.
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| Syrian rebels name new chiefs after blast kills nearly 50 Posted: 10 Sep 2014 07:56 AM PDT  Syria's Islamist Ahrar al-Sham rebel brigade named new chiefs on Wednesday after a devastating blast killed nearly 50 members of its leadership in a northwestern province largely under rebel control. The blast in Idlib province on Tuesday evening killed the key rebel group's leader Hassan Abboud, known by the name Abu Abdullah al-Hamawi, along with 46 other top members. On Wednesday morning, in a video posted on YouTube, Ahrar al-Sham announced that Hashem al-Sheikh, known as Abu Jaber, would replace Abboud as head of the group, with Abu Saleh Tahhan as military commander. Ahrar al-Sham is a key component in the Islamic Front rebel coalition, which has been battling both President Bashar al-Assad's regime and jihadists of the Islamic State group.
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| Six arrested in ivory poaching ring Posted: 10 Sep 2014 09:10 AM PDT  Wildlife campaigners in Mozambique say police have cracked an ivory poaching ring believed to be responsible for the deaths of at least 39 elephants. The Wildlife Conservation Society said six suspects were arrested in Niassa National Reserve at the weekend, in what is seen as a major breakthrough in the anti-poaching fight. The head of the group, which manages the park, Cristian Samper hailed "strengthened security and intelligence" for the arrests, in a country experiencing an ivory poaching crisis. The park is "on the front line of the crisis in ivory," Samper said.
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| France ready to participate in Iraq airstrikes Posted: 10 Sep 2014 10:29 AM PDT  France's foreign minister said Wednesday his country is ready to take part in airstrikes against extremist fighters in Iraq if needed.
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| Father to be charged with murder in deaths of his five children Posted: 10 Sep 2014 10:30 AM PDT  LEXINGTON, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina man confessed to killing his five children, ages 1 to 8, then dumping their bodies wrapped in trash bags in a secluded clearing along a rural road in Alabama, authorities said Wednesday.
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| Poll: IS jihadists' actions take toll on Americans' sense of security Posted: 10 Sep 2014 07:39 AM PDT  On the eve of the 13th anniversary of 9/11, almost half of Americans feel less safe than they did before the attacks, a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds.
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| Missouri executes man for killing 2 in robbery Posted: 09 Sep 2014 10:46 PM PDT  BONNE TERRE, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri inmate was put to death Wednesday for killing two people during a restaurant robbery in 1998, the eighth execution in the state this year and the 10th since November.
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| 12 US military helicopters descend on Polish farm Posted: 10 Sep 2014 06:11 AM PDT  WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's military says a dozen U.S. Army helicopters made an unplanned landing in farmers' fields because of poor visibility in stormy weather.
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| Former exotic dancer sues Cowboys' owner for sexual harassment Posted: 10 Sep 2014 10:28 AM PDT  The suit seeks at least $1 million from Jerry Jones.
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| Ferguson council faces calls for reform at first meeting since teen's shooting Posted: 09 Sep 2014 10:04 PM PDT  By Carey Gillam FERGUSON Mo. (Reuters) - City leaders in Ferguson, Missouri, confronted demands for reform from an angry crowd on Tuesday night at their first public meeting since last month's fatal shooting of an unarmed black teen by a white police officer ignited weeks of protests. The atmosphere was charged from the opening minutes as members of a largely black audience that numbered in the hundreds shouted over remarks by city council members, rising out of their seats and chanting in solidarity. Some wore T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan "Hands Up Don't Shoot," a phrase that has become a national rallying cry for activists protesting the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, and other acts of what they say are police abuse. As council leaders attempted to discuss routine city business, one man shouted: "What about Mike Brown?" Tensions have been high in the mostly black community of 21,000 people since the Aug. 9 shooting of Brown.
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| Severe storms forecast for Detroit, schools close early Posted: 10 Sep 2014 10:50 AM PDT (Reuters) - A forecast of severe thunderstorms for the Detroit metro area on Wednesday afternoon prompted Detroit public schools to dismiss students early and city officials to warn residents of possible flooding. The National Weather Service issued a "hazardous weather outlook" for parts of southeast Michigan, with thunderstorms, the potential of localized flash flooding and wind gusts of around 60 mph (96 kph). Detroit officials asked residents to help prevent flooding by clearing storm drains of leaves and other trash in front of homes and businesses. Storms could develop through about 8 p.m. in the Detroit area south to the Ohio border, said Bryan Tilley, a National Weather Service meteorologist. |
| Broadway to dim lights for Joan Rivers after all Posted: 10 Sep 2014 07:42 AM PDT  Theater executives reversed a decision that Rivers did not deserve the honor.
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| Syria said to be using chemical weapons again Posted: 10 Sep 2014 06:47 AM PDT  Inspectors from Hague-based watchdog cite "compelling evidence" chlorine gas used as weapon in northern Syria this year.
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| Russia tests nuclear missile, plans more Posted: 10 Sep 2014 05:59 AM PDT  New Bulava intercontinental missile flew successfully Wednesday as test drills ramp up.
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| 13 years after 9/11 attacks, families still wait for justice Posted: 10 Sep 2014 01:52 AM PDT  On a May morning more than two years ago, Rita Lasar and Debra Burlingame waited in silence as the lights dimmed in a movie theater on an Army base deep in Brooklyn. The hundreds of seats in the Fort Hamilton theater are, on other occasions, filled with soldiers and their families watching blockbusters. But today, the nearly empty theater has been repurposed to show close family members of 9/11 victims the opening day of the long-awaited trial of the five men accused of masterminding the attacks that killed their loved ones.
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| US to bid adios to hacked security clearance contractor Posted: 10 Sep 2014 05:20 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal Office of Personnel Management plans to terminate its massive contracts with USIS, the major security clearance contractor targeted last month by a cyberattack, agency, congressional and company officials say. The computer network intrusion compromised the personal files of as many as 25,000 government workers.
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| Obama outlining plan to fight IS militants Posted: 10 Sep 2014 10:49 AM PDT  The president will discuss his strategy during a prime-time address Wednesday night.
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| Brown wins New Hampshire Republican Senate primary Posted: 09 Sep 2014 05:47 PM PDT  CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Former Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Scott Brown won New Hampshire's Republican U.S. Senate primary on Tuesday, moving forward in his attempt to get back to Washington from another state.
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| Goodell doesn’t rule out Rice playing again Posted:  The NFL commissioner insists no one in the league saw the tape of Rice striking his fiancé.
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| 5 missing S.C. children found dead; father suspected Posted: 09 Sep 2014 04:55 PM PDT  The bodies of five children aged between 2 and 8 were found stuffed into garbage bags on Tuesday near a logging road in Alabama after their father confessed to killing them and led police to the scene, authorities said. Timothy Ray Jones, the father of the children, did not reveal a motive for the killings, which he confessed to authorities in Mississippi, Smith County Sheriff Charlie Crumpton said. "I'm a father of two, and I can't imagine what goes through a man's head when he does this," Crumpton said. "It was a horrible, horrible crime." The children, whose names have not been released, were reported missing from their home near Lexington, South Carolina, by their mother on Sept. 3, the Lexington County Sheriff's Department said in a statement.
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| U.S. extends Padilla terror sentence to 21 years Posted: 09 Sep 2014 02:39 PM PDT  Jose Padilla, a US citizen convicted of helping a homegrown Al-Qaeda cell, saw his prison sentence extended to 21 years Tuesday after his initial 17-year penalty was deemed too lenient. Padilla was the subject of a fierce tug-of-war between the administration of former president George W. Bush and civil liberties groups after he was detained without charge for nearly four years on a military brig following his arrest in 2002. He was convicted two years later of aiding a homegrown Al-Qaeda cell that supplied recruits and funding to Islamic extremists abroad, and of conspiring to murder, kidnap and maim people in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Bosnia and other countries from 1993 to 2001.
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| Syrian rebels to release UN peacekeepers Posted: 09 Sep 2014 10:25 PM PDT  Syrian insurgents will release 45 UN peacekeepers held captive since Aug. 28, Fiji said.
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| Curt Schilling returning to ESPN after battling cancer Posted:  Curt Schilling will be back talking baseball this week after announcing in August that he'd won his cancer fight.
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| Orangutan that picked 7 straight Super Bowl winners dies in Utah Posted:  An orangutan who became famous by correctly predicting the winner of the Super Bowl for the last seven straight years has died at a zoo in Utah, its keepers reported.
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| Shark kills man in Australia despite rescue attempt Posted: 09 Sep 2014 03:50 PM PDT  SYDNEY (AP) — A shark killed a 50-year-old swimmer Tuesday at eastern Australia's popular Byron Bay despite a beachgoer's brave rescue attempt, police said.
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| Six Flags' Colossus coaster goes out in flames Posted:  The Colossus roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain has fallen down to the ground after going up in flames.
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| White House says beheaded U.S. journalist not 'sold' to Islamic State Posted: 09 Sep 2014 03:13 PM PDT  The United States has no information indicating beheaded American journalist Steven Sotloff was "sold" to Islamic State militants by moderate Syrian opposition rebels, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Tuesday. Sotloff family spokesman Barak Barfi told CNN on Monday night the family believed Islamic State paid up to $50,000 to rebels who told the militant group the 31-year-old journalist had entered Syria.
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| Eagles RB leaves 20-cent tip on $61.56 bill, restaurant says Posted:  LeSean McCoy is a good running back. And, it would appear, a bad tipper.
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| Floods hit a million in Pakistan, anger rises in Indian Kashmir Posted: 10 Sep 2014 10:35 AM PDT  Deadly flooding has affected more than one million people in Pakistan, officials said Wednesday, as anger mounted in Indian Kashmir over the slow pace of rescue operations for hundreds of thousands left stranded. The floods and landslides from days of heavy rains have now claimed more than 450 lives in Pakistan and India, where emergency workers scrambled to rescue residents left marooned on rooftops and clinging to trees. "At least 1,091,807 people were affected in Punjab province and 31,800 in Pakistan-administered Kashmir," a senior official at Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) told AFP.
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| FBI: Air marshal attacked with syringe in Nigeria Posted: 09 Sep 2014 02:18 PM PDT The FBI says a U.S. air marshal was attacked with a syringe at a Nigerian airport. |
| Remains of Tennessee student found Posted: 09 Sep 2014 12:53 PM PDT  Partial remains of missing student Holly Bobo have been found more than three years after her disappearance.
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| 28 leaders of Islamist group killed in Syria blast Posted: 09 Sep 2014 01:39 PM PDT  An explosion killed the leader of one of Syria's most powerful Islamist insurgent groups Ahrar al-Sham on Tuesday, the group said, and an organization that monitors violence in the civil war said at least 28 of its commanders had died. Ahrar al-Sham is a hardline Islamist group and part of the Islamic Front alliance that has been in armed conflict with the Islamic State group which has seized swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq. A statement posted on Ahrar al-Sham's official Twitter feed said the blast had hit a meeting in Idlib province in northwest Syria and confirmed Hassan Aboud, the group's leader, among at least 12 dead. "We don't know the cause of the explosion yet," Abu Mustafa al-Absi, a member of Ahrar al-Sham's politburo told Al-Jazeera TV in an interview.
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| U.S. bombs Islamic State in Iraq Posted: 09 Sep 2014 12:05 PM PDT  Pentagon: U.S. warplanes have carried out more airstrikes against Iraqi jihadists.
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| Documentary shows atrocities in fight against Boko Haram jihadis Posted: 09 Sep 2014 09:13 AM PDT  Atrocities in fight against Boko Haram jihadists depicted in FRONTLINE documentary.
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